Astera 8 - Important Considerations
There are some important considerations that you need to take into account when working with Astera 8. In this article, we are covering all the instances where Astera 8 differs from the Astera 7 lineup.
Running Astera 7 and Astera 8 Server Side-By-Side
You can run the Astera 7 and Astera 8 servers in parallel since they are configured to use different port numbers by default. Note that these port numbers may be different in your environment, so you are advised to check with your network administrator.
Port 9259 – for Astera 7, and
Port 9260 – for Astera 8
Server URI
Astera 8 uses HTTPS (HTTP over SSL) protocol to connect Astera clients to the server. Click here to read more about how to connect an Astera server using the Server URI.
Additional Considerations
Firewalls: In Astera 8, HTTPS protocol is used to establish a more secure connection, compared to the .Net remoting protocol used in Astera 7.x. This allows remote Astera clients to connect to the server across AD/Windows domains and even across Cloud/WAN. This also requires that the appropriate ports are open in your network configuration for SSL connectivity to work.
Self-Signed Certificates: The Astera server installer creates a self-signed certificate during server installation. The certificate file must be present in the server’s application directory for the server to start.
Click hereto learn more about how to set up a self-signed server certificate in Astera 8.Port Number: The Astera 8 server runs on Port 9260.
Client-Server Connectivity: The Astera 8 client cannot be connected to the Astera 7.x server, and likewise, the Astera 7.x client cannot be connected to the Astera 8 server.
User and Security Management
Windows/AD-based domain and local user accounts are not supported in Astera 8. Astera 8 brings its own security framework. This means that you will need to define users, roles, and permissions to resources manually as part of the 7.6 to 8 migration.
You can create and manage user roles, add new users, define and/or delete roles, and edit role resources, all in a dedicated window in the Astera client. To manage different users in the Astera client, go to Server Explorer, right-click on ‘DEFAULT’ and select ‘User List’ from the context menu.
This will open a new window where you can register a new user, activate or delete users, and edit their roles.
To manage user roles in Astera 8, go to Server Explorer, right-click on ‘DEFAULT’, and select ‘Role List’ from the context menu.
This will open a new window where you can create and manage different user roles. Astera 8.0 features intuitive, permission, and access-related functions.).
Learn more about managing user roles here.
Legacy Providers
DB2 and Oracle legacy database providers are not supported in Astera 8. However, you can natively connect to Oracle and DB2 databases using the Database Table source in the Astera 8 client.
For these connections to work, you need to make sure the appropriate database driver is installed on the machine that runs the Astera server. The client machines no longer require those drivers, which simplifies product rollout and management. For more information on installing and configuring Oracle and DB2 drivers, please refer to these articles.
Data Preview
The instant Data Preview feature that was offered as part of the Astera client in previous releases has now been shifted over to the server in Astera 8. Now when a user wants to preview the data, the data request is processed on the server and the data is then displayed by the Astera client in the data preview window.
This is particularly beneficial in cases of complex network environments or where multiple clients are connected to a single server. Users no longer need to install the data providers on their workstations, instead, the data providers can be installed directly on the server.
Repository Database Provider Support
Astera 8 supports MS SQL Server and PostgreSQL database providers for repositories.
Linux Support
Linux support has been included in Astera 8. With this update, the Astera Integration Server can now be deployed on different versions of Linux (Ubuntu and Centos).
.NetCore vs .Net4.7
Astera 8 is built on .NETCore architecture compared to Astera 7.x line which was built on .Net 4.7. This has brought about a significant performance increase in Astera 8, up to 25% faster than the previous releases.
Server Restart (via Services)
In Astera 8, there’s no functionality to start or stop a server from the Server Explorer in the Astera client. To restart a server in Astera 8, go to Services > Server > Restart.
New Service Name
The service name for Astera 8 has been changed. ‘Astera.TransferService.exe’ will continue to be the service name for Astera 7, whereas the service name for Astera 8 will be identified as ‘Astera.TransferServiceWebApi.exe.’
Schedule Objects vs. Imported Schedules
There are two different types of schedules in Astera 8:
Imported Schedules – create schedules by importing existing jobs using a ‘.Sched’ file.
Schedule Objects – go to the Virtualization menu > Caching Schedules. This schedule is created by adding a new schedule in the Scheduler window and is saved in an XML file with ‘.Schd’ extension.
SOAP
SOAP transformation is not currently supported in Astera 8.
Name and Address Parser
The Name and Address Parser functionality has not been included in this release of Astera 8. This was offered as a third-party feature in Astera 7 and previous releases. We’re currently working on making improvements to this functionality and it will be reintroduced in the coming releases of Astera 8 with more enhanced features and improved performance.
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